Going to prison in your home country can be disorienting enough. What about when you’re new to the culture, don’t speak the language, and are thousands of miles from family and friends? Three Americans describe their experiences of incarceration in Japan, Thailand, and Iran.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

What does it take to be bonnaroo in prison? We explore the creative ways people inside transform and beautify their physical selves and their living environment, using whatever they can find within prison walls.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

At Ear Hustle, we hear more from listeners about music than almost any other topic. In response, we bring you the Ear Hustle Mixtape, including stories about an unlikely instrument that’s been showing up on the yard at San Quentin, Native American sweat lodges and music, and getting the band back together post-incarceration.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

We bring you stories about the ups and downs of making bail and the bittersweet taste of freedom when you know you’re about to lose it. Plus: Nigel confronts a man with no regrets, and Ear Hustle says goodbye to a friend of the show.

To find out more about the Ear Hustle 30-Day Challenge, and to participate with us, visit earhustlesq.com/challenge.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

August 21, 1971 was the deadliest day in San Quentin history, and it’s still a painful topic, both inside the prison and out. At the center of the story was a Black revolutionary named George Jackson. Who was he, and what makes him so controversial, even today?

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits at earhustlesq.com.

More on George Jackson and the Adjustment Center incident:

Freedom Archives’ 99 Books project

50th anniversary article by Kevin Sawyer, an editor at the San Quentin News

“Soledad Brother” 40 years later

“Day of the Gun” documentary from Bay Area news station KRON4

Making Contact’s radio documentary “The Struggle Inside”

New York Times narrative of August 21st

Los Angeles Times looks back at the day, and the trial of the San Quentin Six

British documentary about the weeks after August 21, 1971

Dick Nelson remembers August 21st, 1971

Ear Hustle’s eighth season launches on September 8th with a dramatic account of one of the most notorious days in San Quentin’s history: August 21st, 1971. By sundown, three guards and three incarcerated people lay dead. Fifty years later, the events of that day remain intensely contested, and emotions raw. We break down what happened, and why it still matters today.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX.

With just a few weeks to go before Ear Hustle returns with Season 8, we wanted to introduce listeners to a new show that’s been in all of our headphones: Life Jolt. In this first episode, “The Before Times,” incarcerated women look back on the uncertainty and dread they experienced in those early days while they waited to receive their sentences.

Leslie has served more time in prison than anyone we’ve ever interviewed on the show: over half a century, for a crime committed when she was 19. Four times, the parole board has deemed her fit for release. Each time, California’s governor denied it. What does it mean to live a meaningful life when nearly all of it is spent behind bars?

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. 

You can find out more about Nigel and Earlonne’s forthcoming book, This Is Ear Hustle, at thisisearhustlebook.com. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com.

Support our team and get even more Ear Hustle by subscribing to Ear Hustle Plus today. Sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

A year after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer, the Ear Hustle team and friends talk about their first interactions with cops, the role of empathy, and whether those relationships can ever change.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show. 

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com.

Find out how Talib has been doing since this episode originally aired, in the Ear Hustle Plus episode “Where’s Talib Now?” To listen to all EH+ bonus content, sign up at earhustlesq.com/plus or directly in Apple Podcasts. 

Toothpaste, ramen noodles, sneakers, coffee creamer. If you want to shop from prison, it’s either the commissary or a prison-approved package catalog. These packages offer a connection to the outside world, but sometimes they make the distance seem even greater.

As always, big thanks to Lt. Sam Robinson and Acting Warden Ron Broomfield for their support of the show.

Ear Hustle is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Find a full list of episode credits, sign up for our newsletter, and shop for merch at earhustlesq.com.